After the daily walk to the park, the Germans did a head
count and found one prisoner missing. They checked all inmates against their
photo identity cards and discovered that a French Lieutenant named Alain Le Ray
had earned the distinction of being the first prisoner to get clean away from
Colditz. After hiding in a cellar of a house that stood along the park path, Le
Ray had climbed over the park fence and disappeared. He eventually made it
safely to Switzerland.
